Buried deep within the tracklist of last year’s Barbie soundtrack is a Eurodance track called “Choose Your Fighter.” It’s by Ava Max, and it quite closely resembles another single by the same artist, the triumphant dancefloor filler “Kings & Queens.” Does that similarity bother me? Not in the slightest. “Choose Your Fighter” is a bit more frenetic than “Kings & Queens,” and it hooked my daughters, instantly turning both of them into stans.

We listened to “Choose Your Fighter” so many times last year, and then we made our way into the Ava Max discography at large. I came to discover that this woman has so many bangers. When she emerged in 2018 with “Sweet But Psycho,” I slagged her off as “Diet Lady Gaga,” but I’m going to need to walk that back. Both 2020’s Heaven & Hell and 2023’s Diamonds & Dancefloors are brimming with expertly crafted pop tracks. Some of them are more strictly clubby, others harness the tools of synth-pop and new wave in Flashdance-y ways. You could fill a greatest hits album with all the ones that got stuck in my head.

Max is one of the more accomplished pop artists of the moment, so I’m excited that she’s launching a new era today, even if new single “My Oh My,” built around the melody from the snake charmer song, is not exactly her best work. Watch Hunter Moreno’s video below.